Col. Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the Nigerian military's joint task force operating in the region, said a militant camp had been "torched" but denied that there had been an exchange of fire or military or civilian casualties.

According to police affidavits unsealed two weeks after the fire, other residents told police that McLeod had talked about burning down the building earlier that night and bragged about having "torched" it afterward.

Lord Carter, the minister for technology, communications and broadcasting, warned earlier in the week that if everyone "torched" the straw man it would be a sign that the industry did not have enough commonality for a co-regulatory approach to work, in which case the government would either introduce comprehensive legislation or abandon the industry to its fate.

The army "torched" a militant camp in Delta State during an operation on Friday, a military group says it is prepared to unleash a new wave of violence in the volatile Niger Delta following the expiration of